The Man of Mode: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 15:51, 5 January 2023

or, Sir Fopling Flutter. Comedy by Sir George Etherege, premiered in 1676 and regarded as his best work. Despite the subtitle of the play, the character of Sir Fopling Flutter is not the protagonist and does not appear before Act III.

Plot

The play is set in London. Protagonist is the rake Dorimant who is trying to get rid of his lover Mrs Loveit, since he is also meeting Belinda, a younger friend of Mrs Loveit, and for the reason of making a conquest of Harriet from Yorkshire, a beautiful young heiress who just arrived in London. His friend Medley helps him realize his plans of making Mrs Loveit jealous so that she breaks up with Dorimant.

Young Bellair who is a friend of Dorimant and Medley is in love with Emilia. Meanwhile, his father is also attracted to Emilia not knowing that he and his son share the same feelings for the same woman. Meanwhile, Old Bellair plans on marrying his son to Harriet. In order to trick his father and Harriet´s mother Lady Woodvill, Young Bellair and Harriet pretend to be in love.

Sir Fopling Flutter is a ridiculous follower of French fashion who is trying to appear as a truewit. But he is too much concerned with his outward appearance and is basically dim-witted. Therefore, Sir Fopling becomes the tool of Dorimant's plan to get rid of Mrs Loveit. Loveit, however, turns the tables and gets Dorimant slightly jealous for a moment, when she flirts with Fopling in public.

In the end, all is well, though: Emilia and Young Bellair, Dorimant and Harriet end up as couples. The rest are invited to a dance.

Sources:

Adams, William Davenport. "The Comical Revenge, or, Love in a Tub. A Brief Synopsis and History of the Play by Sir George Etherege." TheatreHistory.com, 2006, originally published in A Dictionary of the Drama, W. Davenport Adams, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1904. http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/etherege002.html.

Schmidt, Johann N. "Von der Restauration Zur Vorromantik." Englische Literaturgeschichte. Ed. Hans Ulrich Seeber. 4th ed. Stuttgart, Weimar: Verlag J.B. Metzler, 2004. 155-219.

Salgado, Gamini (ed.). Three Restoration Comedies. London: Penguin Books, 1986.

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-'''The Man of Mode, or, Sir Fopling Flutter
+or, Sir Fopling Flutter. Comedy by Sir [[George Etherege]], premiered in 1676 and regarded as his best work. Despite the subtitle of the play, the character of Sir Fopling Flutter is not the protagonist and does not appear before Act III.
-  '''
-A comedy by Sir [[George Etherege]] (?1634-91), premiered in 1676 after his first two plays ''[[The Comical Revenge, or Love in a Tub]]'' (1664) and ''[[She Would if She Could]]'' (1668). Hence, ''The Man of Mode'' is Etherege´s third and last play and it is regarded as his best work.
-Since Etherege himself typified a lot what was characteristic for the Restoration ethos he was able to equip the play with an uncompromising realism with which it investigates the implications of Restoration libertinism so that it becomes a realistic triumph of Restoration Drama.
-Although Sir Fopling Flutter is the subtitle of the play, the character of Sir Fopling Flutter is not the protagonist and does not appear before Act III.
 '''Plot'''
-The play is set in London (which was regarded as the only centre of civilized existence by the gentry during Restoration times) and tells the story of a young wit named Dorimant who is trying to get rid of his affair to Mrs Loveit, since he is also meeting Belinda, a younger friend of Mrs Loveit, and for the reason of making a conquest of Harriet from Yorkshire, a beautiful young heiress who just arrived in London. Medley, another truewit and friend of Dorimant helps him realize his plans of making Mrs Loveit jealous so that she breaks up with Dorimant.
+The play is set in London. Protagonist is the rake Dorimant who is trying to get rid of his lover Mrs Loveit, since he is also meeting Belinda, a younger friend of Mrs Loveit, and for the reason of making a conquest of Harriet from Yorkshire, a beautiful young heiress who just arrived in London. His friend Medley helps him realize his plans of making Mrs Loveit jealous so that she breaks up with Dorimant.
-Young Bellair who is a friend of Dorimant and Medley falls in love with Emilia. Meanwhile, his father is also attracted to Emilia not knowing that he and his son share the same feelings for the same woman. Meanwhile, Old Bellair plans on setting his son up with the young heiress Harriet. In order to trick his father and Harriet´s mother Mrs Woodvill, Young Bellair and Harriet pretend to be in love.
+Young Bellair who is a friend of Dorimant and Medley is in love with Emilia. Meanwhile, his father is also attracted to Emilia not knowing that he and his son share the same feelings for the same woman. Meanwhile, Old Bellair plans on marrying his son to Harriet. In order to trick his father and Harriet´s mother Lady Woodvill, Young Bellair and Harriet pretend to be in love.
+Sir Fopling Flutter is a ridiculous follower of French fashion who is trying to appear as a truewit. But he is too much concerned with his outward appearance and is basically dim-witted. Therefore, Sir Fopling becomes the tool of Dorimant's plan to get rid of Mrs Loveit. Loveit, however, turns the tables and gets Dorimant slightly jealous for a moment, when she flirts with Fopling in public.
-By implication the plot of this comedy refers to two interlocking triangles, each consisting of a young man and two women.
+In the end, all is well, though: Emilia and Young Bellair, Dorimant and Harriet end up as couples. The rest are invited to a dance.
-.) Harriet, Young Bellair and Emilia
-.) Mrs Loveit, Dorimant and Belinda
+'''Sources:'''
-In each case the woman with whom the young man falls in love is not the one who returns his love.
+Adams, William Davenport. "''The Comical Revenge, or, Love in a Tub''. A Brief Synopsis and History of the Play by Sir George Etherege." ''TheatreHistory.com'', 2006, originally published in ''A Dictionary of the Drama'', W. Davenport Adams, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1904. http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/etherege002.html.
-Sir Fopling Flutter is the would-be gallant or fop of the story since he is a ridiculous follower of French fashion who is trying to appear as a truewit by false affectation, which is the besetting vice of all the young wits in the play (Young Bellair, Dorimant, Medley). He is too much concerned with his outward appearance and has no inner witty nature.
+Schmidt, Johann N. "Von der Restauration Zur Vorromantik." ''Englische Literaturgeschichte''. Ed. Hans Ulrich Seeber. 4th ed.
-Therefore, Sir Fopling becomes the tool of witty Dorimant in order to stir up Mrs Loveit´s jealousy who however turns the tables and gets Dorimant slightly jealous for a moment.
-Later on Harriet´s mother and Old Bellair feel attracted to each other but their courtship behavior embodies ridiculousness and out-of-date gallantry, parodied by Dorimant as “Mr. Courtage”.
-In the end Harriet falls in love with Dorimant so that the hero is betrothed to his beloved but at the same time ends up on good terms with his former girlfriends. Also Emilia and Young Bellair can finally marry.
-'''Sources:'''
-Schmidt, Johann N. "Von Der Restauration Zur Vorromantik." ''Englische Literaturgeschichte''.Ed.Hans Ulrich Seeber. 4th ed.
 Stuttgart, Weimar: Verlag J.B. Metzler, 2004. 155-219.
 Salgado, Gamini (ed.). ''Three Restoration Comedies''. London: Penguin Books, 1986.
-http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/etherege002.html